Last Saturday, I went to the Cotswold town of Stroud to see Blancmange live in concert. It was a night of firsts: the first time I've seen Neil Arthur and co. on stage and the first time I've been to a gig at The Subscription Rooms. It was also the first time that I met Mike, regular commenter here and on other music blogs in this friendly little corner of t'internet.
I think it all started when I posted an Imaginary Compilation Album for Julian Cope over at The Vinyl Villain in 2020. Mike commented that he had been at the same 1987 Cope gig in Bristol that I had written about and over the course of several TVV posts and comments realised that we also currently live a few miles away from each other. Fast forward to last weekend and I finally got to meet Mike and his friend Paul in person and what better way than with a Blancmange gig?
The Subscription Rooms is a lovely old building in the heart of the town, a good sized venue, imposing from the outside and welcoming on the inside, with a stage set up that reminded me of a slightly more grand school disco (not meant as an insult). Photo borrowed directly from Blancmange's own Twitter feed.
Support came from Oblong, featuring Ben 'Benge' Edwards on drums, who has co-produced several of Blancmange's 21st century albums, including Private View, released at the end of September. A brisk, 30-minute set of instrumental songs at times channeling 1980s New Order and Ultravox B-sides with a live line-up that also echoed the former. Here's a YouTube clip of them performing The Sea At Night in Cardiff last year, which will give you a pretty good idea of their live chops. A short, snappy set chock full of great tunes and I'll definitely be investigating further.
After a 30 minute interval, including a trip to the quietest bar (no queue!) that I've ever experienced at a gig, the three-piece Blancmange took to the stage, including Simon 'Sid' Stronach from Oblong. I only discovered this shortly before the gig but Neil Arthur lives a couple of miles away from Stroud so this was a local gig in a literal sense and there were frequent nods, waves and thumbs up to friends who had turned up to provide support and have a good time. As a possible homage to 80s contemporaries The Human League, Blancmange also had a couple of enthusiastic and creative female dancers right at the front of the audience, finding a groove in every song that followed, regardless of the tempo.
The set started off with a brace of songs from Private View and the album was well represented throughout, with 5 songs aired in an 18-song set. There was also a good spread of songs from Blancmange's 21st century albums, including personal favourites Mindset and We Are The Chemicals. Of course, many of the audience were clearly here for the 80s hits and Neil didn't disappoint, with Feel Me, I've Seen The Word and Waves making early appearances, albeit closer to the updated versions from 2016's Happy Families Too... and none the worse for that.
My memory is a little hazy but I don't think anything from third album Believe You Me was performed and, for quite a while, nothing from second album Mange Tout until the final section, when four songs - That's Love, That It Is, Don't Tell Me, Game Above My Head and Blind Vision - popped up in fairly quick succession.
A word on the setlist/today's selection: I wasn't taking notes and my short-term memory is shocking, especially when I'm 'in the moment'. I've therefore turned to Setlist and the list for the previous night's gig at Cambridge Junction. Most of the running order corresponds with my own memory of the Stroud gig. However, the Cambridge gig was missing Don't Tell Me, which I distinctly remembered from Saturday, not least for Neil Arthur's own Swedey McSwedeface moment:
However, I've no idea exactly where the song sat in the setlist so I've slotted it in where it seems to best fit...
Neil was on top form, both in voice and wit, with some songs - particularly the Private View material - even more powerful live on stage. The between song banter was entertaining, as was the occasional and intentional Dad-dancing and kung fu kicks (above photo courtesy of Jonathan Duckworth).
The basic set up of synths and drum pods also worked a treat, enabling the spectrum of songs to sound contemporary and complementary despite the four decade age gap between some songs. The audience (me included) had long succumbed to the irresistible urge to dance by the time the final song, Blind Vision, and sole encore, Living On The Ceiling brought things to a satisfying conclusion.
After a few words of thanks to the audience, a request to look after each other, Neil Arthur left the stage. We didn't hang about to chat with him on the merch stall afterwards, to be honest, I was completely lost for words anyway.
All in all, a great night out with great people (thanks Mike and Paul!) and great, great music from start to finish.
1) What's Your Name (2022)
2) Reduced Voltage (John Grant Remix) (2022)
3) Feel Me (Extended Version By Mike Howlett) (1982)
4) I've Seen The Word (HF2 Version) (2013)
5) Mindset (Extended Mix By Neil Arthur & Benge) (2020)
6) Last Night (I Dreamt I Had A Job) (Single Version By Neil Arthur & David Rhodes) (2016)
7) Not A Priority (Album Version ft. Hannah Peel) (2018)
8) Waves (Original Version - No Strings) (1982)
9) What's The Time? (Kincaid Remix By Joe Arthur) (2019)
10) Private View (2022)
11) That's Love, That It Is (Extended) (Remix By John Luongo) (1983)
12) Don't Tell Me (Album Version By Peter Collins & Julian Mendelsohn) (1984)
13) We Are The Chemicals (2017)
14) Take Me (2022)
15) Game Above My Head (Album Version By Blancmange & John Williams) (1984)
16) Some Times These (Album Version) (2022)
17) Blind Vision (Album Version By John Luongo) (1984)
18) Living On The Ceiling (HF2 Version) (2013)
1982: Feel Me EP: 3
1983: That's Love, That It Is EP: 11
1984: Mange Tout: 12, 15, 17
2013: Happy Families Too...: 4, 18
2016: Red Shift EP: 6
2017: Happy Families (Media Book Edition): 8
2017: Unfurnished Rooms: 13
2018: Wanderlust: 7
2019: Late For Sum EP (Kincaid ft. Blancmange): 9
2020: Expanded Mindset: 5
2022: Private View: 1, 10, 14, 16
2022: Reduced Voltage EP / Private View (limited edition 2x CD): 2
Picking Up Where We Left Off (1:25:09) (KF) (Mega)